The week that was: times they are a-changin’ | View

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last updated:
15/12/2018

Welcome to our weekly round-up where we take a look at the hot topics that have had you talking this week. With discussions around the Brexit negotiations to the erosion of our human rights, we aim to give you a flavour of the opinions here on View that have driven debate across Europe and beyond over the last seven days.

British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once said that a week is a long time in politics. The fortunes of a politician or a government can alter dramatically over the course of a few days – and change is definitely in the air in Europe and beyond. Without the benefit of hindsight, we never quite know whether potential change will be for the good or whether an ill wind will soon blow.

One change that is inescapable is Brexit. It is currently dominating the political agenda in Europe. And, as contributor James Ball argues, it is increasingly becoming a chaotic mess. For anyone watching events in the UK as a parliamentary vote on Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement was pulled because it faced defeat - not to mention a challenge to her leadership - a political week in the UK felt a lot like a year. But as Ball contends: “The closer you get [to leaving the EU], the messier it looks. It’s chaos all the way down.”

Of course, 2018 has not just been about the farcical Brexit process. As Stefan Simanowitz from Amnesty International writes, this year was another year where the rights of citizens across Europe were eroded by a populist wave. The number of countries falling under the spell of authoritarians is swelling. “Across Europe, emboldened groups advocate hate and discrimination, levering themselves into mainstream politics,” he says. “Meanwhile, established political parties are absorbing their ideas and parroting their hateful rhetoric.”

Independence is an abstract concept for leaders in the highest echelons of European politics; the independence of the EU from its larger ally the United States, to be precise. French president Emmanuel Macron recently raised eyebrows when he called for the formation of an EU army. Others have called for the euro to assert more dominance in financial markets in a direct challenge to the dollar. But is all this too much, too soon? Harvard scholar Alina Bârgăoanu gave her insight on the matter this week in her View op-ed.